On 1 October, at the India Mobile Congress 2022 in Delhi, India entered the age of 5G. Airtel and Reliance Jio were out of the gate to announce that their 5G services were active in a handful of metropolitan cities. However, most consumers with 5G devices haven’t been able to experience the new network that promises to offer data speeds rivalling broadband.
The most notable are the iPhone users. The iPhone 12 was Apple’s first 5G-enabled smartphone, and all models since then have supported the technology, including 5G bands used in India. But despite support from Apple, as well as Airtel and Jio, iPhone users are still stuck on 4G.
But they aren’t alone. Most Samsung customers would say the same. A sizable chunk of the South Korean giant’s products supports 5G networks in India. On Airtel’s support page for 5G-enabled phones, one finds models by Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Vivo, iQOO, Oppo, OnePlus, Realme and a few new models by Samsung.
But many customers of even these gadgets can’t connect to the next-generation 5G network, which has now been activated by Airtel en masse and Jio by way of an invite-only welcome offer.
Lack of ‘India focus’?
Apple and Samsung are global brands and India isn’t their largest market. For Apple, by far, the US and China are the two most important markets. Similarly, for Samsung, it’s the US and South Korea.
Google avoided India for its flagships for four years and focussed on more affordable offerings. In 2019, its Pixel 4 used a Soli radar, which worked on a 60 GHz mm wave frequency used by the Indian armed forces to unlock the phone. Engineers didn’t realise that this technology may not be allowed in many markets in India and Japan. Apple’s latest emergency SOS feature on the iPhone 14 is also US and Canada-centric, and it may never come to India. Samsung’s smartwatches still don’t support ECG in India as well.
In 2020, Google could’ve launched the Pixel 4a or the Pixel 5 in India, both of which are 5G models. But it deliberately chose to launch a 4G model, which tells us about its 5G readiness in the country. Meanwhile, Xiaomi has been selling affordable 5G phones since 2019.
With the Pixel 7’s launch in India, Google said that it is working with carrier partners to enable 5G services. But queries on its support chat service have revealed that they will only be enabled via a planned “feature drop” in December.
Apple and Samsung have been similarly coy and say that they are currently testing the network in India with carrier partners. In fact, Apple’s executives are meeting Airtel for the 5G launch this week and reportedly, the plan is to launch the software update like Google in December. The Narendra Modi government has also tabled a meeting to push smartphone makers to expedite 5G compatibility software updates.
For Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, Realme and iQOO — India is ‘mission critical’ outside of China. For Xiaomi and BBK Electronics (parent of OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, iQOO), India is the most important overseas market in terms of customer size, profitability, and on-ground investment.
A sizable chunk of research and development is conducted in India for these brands. Their products are designed specifically for the Indian market, while Apple and Samsung — especially their high-end models — are designed to work across the globe with a leaning towards the US. The Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEM) can also deliver such updates faster as their products aren’t ubiquitous globally.
Apple and Google have their global product teams based mostly in California. Additionally, all these Chinese brands have been doing the leg work as their teams have also been sitting here in India. Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have been working with Indian carriers for months to prepare their devices for 5G. It is not to say Apple and Samsung didn’t, but the hyper-localisation of the Chinese OEMs is just a fundamental advantage.
Apple and Samsung also have stricter quality control requirements. Because of their global footprint, they just can’t drop a software update for one market. Every update must go through various quality control checks that need to be validated not just for India but all markets. Samsung’s updates are also tied to their Knox security suite, which further adds lag in updates for good reason.
Apple is already facing flak for the battery life in iPhone 14 models. The iOS 16 update has also made it worse. The 5G network will have the biggest impact on the battery life of the iPhone. In fact, the iPhone mini models and the latest SE 3 have small batteries, and a poorly calibrated 5G update could be disastrous for those phones. Samsung is also in a similar boat as many phones are plagued by battery life issues.
After all these tests are done, Apple, Google and Samsung will release a software update for 5G. This could take at least a month and a half. That’s what the Pixel and iPhone December software update timeline suggests. Apple has also officially announced that it is working with carrier partners in India, and as soon as network validation and testing are completed, a software update will be released in December that will enable 5G services. Samsung has also come out and said that over-the-air (OTA) updates for 5G will be released for all eligible devices by mid-November.
Samsung India spokesperson says working closely with operator partners and is committed to rolling out OTA updates across all our 5G devices by end of November 2022. #5G
— Danish (@DanishKh4n) October 12, 2022
Also read: Modi govt to push Apple, Samsung for faster 5G software upgrades in phones
What Airtel, Reliance Jio aren’t telling customers
Network operators could also be at fault. 5G connectivity is dependent on a combination of network density and the number of users the carrier wants to onboard in a single go. The idea is to ensure the network doesn’t get overly congested at launch. Airtel, for example, has said that it will be rolling out 5G at no extra cost in eight cities, at least for the time being. It wants to make sure the network isn’t congested before it is monetised so that people can experience the service. It also wants to test network stability during the expansion period.
Even though Airtel claims it has launched 5G in New Delhi, the coverage isn’t uniform. You can use the Open Signal app to check if you have coverage in your area. In the case of Jio, it is an “invite only” welcome plan, but getting the invite isn’t easy.
“Some gatekeeping is happening for sure,” Techarc founder and senior technology consultant Faisal Kawoosa said.
On Android phones, you may need to go into network settings and enable 5G manually. Users can select the preferred network type and choose between a 5G, 4G LTE or 3G network by going into the SIM card settings, but you still may not get 5G.
Also read: 5G launch, festival sales are tempting but buying a smartphone in 2022 is a bad idea
Chinese manufacturers have jumped the gun
I tested the new OnePlus 10T, OnePlus Nord, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, Vivo X70 Pro, Vivo X80 Pro, iQOO 9T, and Xiaomi 12 Pro. I couldn’t connect to Airtel’s 5G network on any of these devices.
While Apple and Samsung acknowledged that a software update is needed for 5G activation, Chinese smartphone makers have jumped the gun and claimed ubiquitous 5G support across their portfolio. However, additional testing may be needed even in their devices.
In fact, Kawoosa is almost certain that these Chinese OEMs will also release another software update that will enable true 5G support. The Chinese OEMs may have exaggerated their claims of providing 5G services. They are taking advantage of Apple and Samsung’s silence.
True 5G rollout will only happen in December for Jio and March for Airtel. So far, what we have seen is tokenism from the carriers. Vodafone isn’t even in play yet.
This is a case of Chinese OEMs having better preparedness for 5G in India as much as Apple and Samsung being a slave to their global scale.
Sahil Mohan Gupta is a technology journalist based out of New Delhi. He tweets at @DigitallyBones
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)